― Alexander McCall Smith
Elemental Deception
The power was off because it was raining―that was the lie we were telling ourselves. Weather was the perfect cover for deception. We had no control over elementals―power outages happen all the time when it rains.
It was logical and credible and I could choose to believe it if desired, but I knew in my heart it was a fiction and so did Angelica.
She was clairvoyant and sensed the darker aspect of what was really going on―a blinding darker than the blackest smoke of hell.
For me, it was a secret only revealed in dreams―clouds of inky despair spawned by the Beast and thanks to Tom Faraday, I was just beginning to uncover his deeds.
"What are you thinking about so deeply?" Angelica asked, seeing the fear on my face lit by flickering flames of the fire.
"You're the clairvoyant," I replied bitterly, "you tell me."
"You're being avoidant because you're scared―I get it. You're frightened because it's the same terror that disturbs your sleep. I sense a presence so oppressive I can almost smell the sulphur."
"Do you know what a Basilisk is?"
She nodded sombrely. "It's the mythical beast often depicted as a dragon―but so too is Satan."
I felt like puking. I could feel my guts wrenching as I recalled his bristling body and foul stench.
"I can't go there, now. I try to shut it out, but it's not working. I, I just can't force myself to think of it. I don't even want to talk about it."
She put her arms around me and held me tight. "I know, Zach. I know you're repulsed and afraid, but what you're sensing is real and you can't hide. There's no distance in the spirit."
"I know what you're saying is true but what I'm experiencing goes beyond night terrors. Tom Faraday, a colleague of mine, confided to me that a scientist studying solar storms predicted two years ago these flares would happen and last nine months . He was given lavish grants but made to sign a non-disclosure agreement. We could have prepared for all this if his findings were not suppressed."
"Do you know who kept his findings a secret?"
"All I know is it's a shadowy cabal located in Israel, but I have no insight into their intentions."
She shook her head sadly. "Obviously, their plans are not good and now both you and your colleague's lives are in danger."
Hearing the facts spoken aloud ignited a sense of terror within me. I felt helpless and paralyzed. The prevailing sense of doom that had hung over me deepened and I saw no exit from the situation I was in.
She tried to get me to focus. "Is there some place where you can go and hide out until this danger passes?"
"I have a cabin where I go to work undisturbed on projects. I call it my writer's retreat―it's off-grid but equipped with solar panels and a portable generator. I can work remotely but still still stay in touch with the newspaper. No one knows about it―it's a jealously guarded secret."
"You need to withdraw there. It's a matter of life and death, Zach. This cabal will track and kill you otherwise."
"Tom Faraday believes they killed Otto Baumann, the scientist who predicted the solar storms, so yeah, you're right in your assessment."
"How soon can you get together provisions to last there for nine months?"
"I just need a few days," I calculated. "I have a vegetable garden already planted and a root cellar with shelves of canned goods. I'll be able to live off the land and preserve whatever vegetables and fruit I grow. It's a bleak prospect but it's doable."
"It is daunting and I'll miss you Zach, but it's the best move under the circumstances. Nine months in the city without power? I don't think we're going to fare that well."
Her words deeply affected me. I hadn’t considered what the implications would be for city dwellers. Now I was sincerely worried about her and Brooke, but what was the alternative?
I could take them with me, but how would that work? Being isolated for nine months with the two of them would stretch our coping skills to the limit—especially since I found them both irresistibly attractive.
But leaving them to fend for themselves without power and adequate resources in the city would amount to abandonment and I didn’t think I could live with that.
Yes, this was a perfect storm in more ways than one, a dilemma with no clear solution…
But life demanded something of me whether I felt I could do it or not and as I already said, it was doable—but how would I pitch this to both the women?
Yep, a dilemma. Such was life in challenging times.